LETTER: More than one route for education

Thursday

Apr 13, 2017 at 1:51 PMApr 13, 2017 at 1:51 PM

By Adam Goldberg/TEC Connections Academy superintendent

Our students today live in a media-based world with information of all kinds coming at all times, with the news of the moment adding to the uncertainty of the future and where the complex process of establishing their own identity all interfere with the student’s ability to focus in school.

Beginning my career as a guidance counselor, I had nine years in outstanding school systems, working to support students’ academic, social, emotional and personal needs. As is so often aligned with the role, I also helped students (and their caretakers) navigate the college admissions process. After the guidance counselor role, there were years in administrative leadership positions in some outstanding school systems before becoming the superintendent of schools for TEC Connections Academy (TECCA), the commonwealth’s virtual school. Reflecting on 18 years of working with adolescents and their parents/caretakers, I can say that it is harder to grow up in this era than any era previous.

Here is one thing for sure: these days there’s more than one route to a student’s destination. Any goal set in high school has more than one path to success. Whether the stellar student worked an alternate strategy towards acceptance to a “reach college school” or a student with some history of disciplinary issues worked a strategy to re-build trust and confidence, students don’t have to accept the status quo, there is always a choice, and there is more than one route to a destination.

As the superintendent of TEC Connections Academy, I can now apply this adage by providing families of the commonwealth of Massachusetts a high-quality online alternative to the traditional educational program. In its third year, TECCA now has a K-12 enrollment of more than 1,400 students, representing more than 250 school districts across the state. We have more than 50 highly qualified teachers who support and teach their students a quality online curriculum, supplemented by virtual - but live - classes. A wide range of field trips across the state allow families to connect and build relationships.

Students come to TECCA for a variety of personal reasons, but most are looking for a quality educational program that can meet their needs where previously that school need was not fully met. Whether a student was bullied and doesn’t feel comfortable going to school, exceptionally gifted and “on the road” with their talent, to physically ill and can’t be present all day, to struggling emotionally and getting through school is simply difficult – all students are welcome at TECCA, and all students can access their learning in a personalized learning environment.

But families should also know that with more flexibility comes a greater independence and responsibility. At TECCA, the word “partnership” isn’t just a word – it’s a true expectation of a relationship that exists between the teacher and the family. Parents have responsibilities just as students do – but it’s TECCA’s mission to provide excellent service to all students and families to help students achieve success. TECCA is, after all, a public school, and must ensure that all students meet the same requirements, growth and achievement as all other district students.

TECCA’s teachers regularly meet with their student and parents to ensure the communication and partnership all working together to support the student. TECCA’s enrollment has grown steadily, an indication that more and more families are seeing a need for their learning experience to be personalized, and not bound in historically institutionalized model of public education. Now, families do have a tuition-free, public, full-time, virtual alternative to the traditional school environment, one that affords families choice in where, how and when their students access their education.

With the growth in the number of our students and the growth of our faculty, I am seeing before my eyes the emerging of an educational movement in Massachusetts. It’s a movement fueled by a knowledge there is more than one route to a destination, but that success on that journey is a partnership that is not limited by the walls in a schoolhouse or the perimeter boundaries of a city or town. We are together, the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and together, we are re-defining high quality public education for the betterment of our students.

Adam Goldberg is superintendent of schools for the TEC Connections Academy headquartered on Mansion Drive in Walpole.